THE CLASS STRUGGLE THE MILITARY PROGRAM 412 413 dom, or, as today, upon wage slavery, the oppressing class is always armed. Not only the standing army of today, but also the militia of today, not excluding that of Switzerland, is armament of the bourgeoisie directed against the proletariat. Surely, it is not necessary to prove this elementary fact. It may suffice to point to the immediate call for troops in capitalistic countries during strikes. The arming of the bourgeoisie against the proletariat is one of the biggest and most important realities of present capitalistic society.
In the face of this fact can anyone except the revolutionary social democrats put forward demands for disarmament!
That would mean complete abandonment of the inherent idea of the class struggle and of all the thoughts of the Revolution, We say: Arming of the proletariat for the purpose of conquering, expropriating, and disarming the bourgeoisie these are the only possible tactics of the revolutionary class, tactics which are being prepared for us, established, and taught us by the entire objective development of capitalistic militarism. Not until the proletariat has disarmed the bourgeoisie can it discard its weapons without betraying its historic mission. It can do it then, but no sooner.
And if the present war creates among the social clergy and the sentimental middle class fear and terror, and hence abhorrance of the use of arms, we still must maintain that capitalistic society always was and always will be a terror without end. If as a result of such a reactionary war this very society perishes in terror, we have no cause to despair. All preaching and clamoring for, or rather dreaming of, disarmament can only be a sign of despair. And this at a time when the only legitimate and revolutionary war, the civil war against the imperialistic bourgeoisie, is being openly prepared by the bourgeoisie itself!
Whoever considers this a mere abstract theory, we should like to remind of two historical facts, namely, the position of the trusts and that of woman labor on the one hand, and the communes of 1871 and the events in December, 1915 in Russia on the other. It is the business of the bourgeoisie to promote the trusts, to drive women and children into factories, and then torture and corrupt them and to subject them to unspeakable misery. We cannot promote, we cannot even tolerate this practice; we must fight against it. But how do we fight?
We openly proclaim that trusts and factory work for women are stages in the industrial advance. We do not wish to return to the handicraft stage, to pre monopolistic capitalism, to housework for women. Forward, beyond the trusts and through them to Socialism!
The same holds true for the militarizing of the people.
The imperialistic and all other bourgeoisie is now militarizing not only all manhood but also the youth. Tomorrow it may even militarize the women. Our answer is: All the better! Keep on. So much the sooner shall we have the armed uprising against capitalism. How could the social democrats allow themselves to be frightened and cowed by the militarizing of the youth, with the example of the Communes before them. Surely, that is neither theory nor dream, but plain fact. It would indeed be hopeless, if the social democrats despite all economic and political evidence should begin to doubt that the imperialistic epoch and the imperialistic wars must of necessity lead to a repitition of such events. bourgeois observer of the Commune wrote in an English paper on May, 1871: If the French nation consisted only of women, what a terrible nation would that be! During the commune the women as well as the children over 13 fought side by side with the men. It will not be different in future wars against the bourgeoisie. When the well armed bourgeoisie shoot upon the poorly armed, or perhaps defenseless, proletariat, the proletarian women will not be willing to look on; as in 1871, they will again take up arms.
Out of the frightened and disheartened nation of today or rather out of the labor movement, disorganized by the opportunists more than by the government there will sooner or later arise an international alliance of terrible nations consisting of revolutionary proletariats.
At present, militarization penetrates all public life. Imperialism is a fierce struggle of the great powers for a redistribution and redivision of the world, and therefore it must lead to further militarization even in the small and neutral countries.
What will the proletarian women do to prevent this? Merely denounce all wars and militarism? Merely demand disarmament? Never shall the women of an oppressed and revolutionary class resign themselves to so despicable a role. On the contrary, they will say to their sons: You will soon be grown up. You will have a gun. Take it and learn how to use itthat is vital to the proletariat not in order to fight your brothers, as is the practice in this war of plunder and the advice of the betrayers of socialism, but in order to fight the bourgeoisie of your own country; in order to put an end to misery and